KND Prime
by Blackdragon812
Summary: The Seventh Age of the KND has come to an untimely end. But from its ashes rises the newer, stronger Eighth Age with an ambition in the vein of its predecessor; to protect and serve kids everywhere. However, like itself, the perils and villains are much stronger and more influential than they were in the past, presenting our young heroes with an endangering challenge at every turn!
1. Overview

**Author's Note: **Dragon, here! So, after reading several awesome KND fics, I decided it was high time to do mine! Although I warn you, it is something you may not expect (as you probably already suspect from the summary). But rather than ramble, I'll let you read the "series" overview of KND Prime!

* * *

OVERVIEW

_**Times have changed since the end of the Seventh Age of the Kids Next Door, yet many things remain intact. The things that terrify, affect, and disgust children in the real world are amplified and exaggerated within the world of the KND. That is the staple that remains even into the Eighth Age. New staples include the children acting in their environments as adults do in their own. Examples include boys watching cartoons and drinking soda while acting up (grown men watching sports and drinking beer while acting up), kids complaining about how much they hate school (more than usual, which alternates with adults complaining about how much they hate their jobs), children "pretending" to pursue certain jobs like selling clubhouses or making movies (alternating with Real Estate Agents and directors making big-budget blockbusters), and kids under 15 driving go-karts to school, home, and hang-out spots (grown-ups driving cars to work, home, and bars and clubs). In addition, hence the rating, some antagonists are much, much darker than the ones in the old show; as some of these guys are meant to abuse, abduct, and neglect children. **__**Keeping with the spirit of tradition, the main characters are five 10-year-olds, the group consisting of three boys and two girls. Ironically, just like the old show, despite being children, most of them speak with mature and precise dialect most of the time while remaining vulnerable to typical childhood interests. **_

_**This aside, there are also many differences given the fact that I wish to avoid impersonation and imitation. The use of codenames is an example of the notes that have been altered slightly. Whenever the team is not on a mission and surrounded by their peers or adults (civilian, not villain), they are referred to by their true names by such. They even refer to each other by their true names during these times. But when it's time to go to work, whether they're in the presence of their peers or not, they refer to each other by codename. In addition to the changes is the skills and abilities of the KND operatives. While still trained as cadets in weaponry, battle tactics, and hand-to-hand combat among other things, the operatives of the eighth age are physically enhanced by something called the "sugarsoldier" serum (a parody of the supersoldier serum from the Captain America movie) for the sole purpose of giving them a chance against monsters and creatures that have proven to be troublesome for all KND members over the many eons it has existed. As for the weapons and technology, they still involve the use of wood (or 2x4), but rather than using household products and old junk for stability, the wood is merged with a special type of metal that provides stability and allows them to do the same things as their older versions of the past could, but with more powerful results (Note: This is in the future, so things have changed a lot). Interestingly though, via their paint jobs, they look like harmless kids' toys (water guns, water blasters, plastic swords, plastic arrows, etc.) **_

_**The most obvious change, however, is the team positions and personalities, but why don't you just read for yourselves?**_

* * *

**Numbuh 1000- **The witty, sardonic Leader of Sector L, known for his calm, cool, and confident demeanor regardless of the situation and for his frequent clutching and eventual eating of mini-twizzlins (a parody of twizzlers). He also has a dark past that dates back to a time before he joined the KND. He is the field reporter for the KND Nightly News.

**Numbuh 2000- **The Transportation Expert of Sector L, known for his tendency to get easily excited, his fidgety, flailing behavior, and his "popaholism" (overconsumption of soda, parodying alcoholism), often getting hyped-up (drunk), subsequently getting a headache (hangover), and needing to dry up (sober up) afterwards. He is an anchor for the KND Nightly News alongside Numbuh 3000.

**Numbuh 3000- **The Second-in-Command of Sector L, known for her vanity and obsession with all things relating to fashion and sweets. She is the slightly older (by five months) sister of Numbuh 4000. She is an anchor for the KND Nightly News alongside Numbuh 2000.

**Numbuh 4000- **The "Diversionary Agent" and Medical Specialist of Sector L, known for her cheerfulness, frequent bubblegum chewing, nearly-obsessiveness with "Gemstone Bunnies", and trigger-happy nature. She is the slightly younger (by five months) sister of Numbuh 3000. She is the weathergirl for the KND Nightly News.

**Numbuh 5000- **The Scientist/Technician of Sector L, known for his big appetite (despite being thin), unnatural interest in girls, kleptomaniac nature (though this is usually limited to food and he insists that he's "borrowing" the stuff), and jealousy when other boys get the good end of his interests rather than himself. He is the cameraman and technician of the KND Nightly News.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Btw, I'm open to questions, comments, and because this is my first fanfiction, constructive criticism. However, I would like reviews to stay in the review box. I've heard that writers/readers choose to send them privately rather than publically. Please do not do that with me. I would rather people know what it is that others are reading or are going to read. Well, I think I've placed you guys in enough suspense! Time for the "pilot episode": **Operation S.C.A.R.E.K.I.D**!


	2. Operation SCAREKID (part 1)

**Author's note: Rated K+ for slightly crude references and intense sequences of sci-fi, fantasy, and crime action and violence. **

* * *

**now loading: **

**kids next door mission**

**operation:**

**s.c.a.r.e.k.i.d.**

**snarling **

**creatures**

**abduct**

**rebellious**

**encroaching **

**kids**

**in**

**dark**

**founding operative:**

**mr. warburton**

**writing operative:**

**blackdragon812**

* * *

The sun is close to setting, causing the black night sky to replace the once blue day sky. It is ten minutes till 7:30 p.m. and Numbuhs 1000 and Numbuh 2000 are racing back home to their treehouse via the use of their flying motorcycle-like bikes (which match the color scheme of their respective outfits): the KND S.K.I.C.L.E.S (**S**uper **K**ool **I**ntense **C**ycles **L**evitate **E**verywhere **S**peedily).

Numbuh 1000 is a handsome boy with golden-blonde hair that partially doubles as long bangs that cover his right eye and a side of his left eye. His choice of clothing is a black leather jacket, a short-sleeve dark green T-shirt, black jeans, and green and black sneakers. He also has a mini-twizzlin clutched in his mouth.

Flying alongside him is his best pal Numbuh 2000, a Black-American boy with black hair and an obviously fake tattoo on his right forearm that read in black letters, "born to fly". His choice of clothing is a thick-collared red T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and red and white sneakers. He is drinking a bottle of root beer while riding, which Numbuh 1000 notices.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! What'd I tell you about hype-driving?" Numbuh 1000 scolds calmly.

"Not hyped, bro!" Numbuh 2000 burps.

"Not yet!" Numbuh 1000 snatches the soda with a smile. "Remember last time you were caught drinking in the sky? You twitched and bounced your way right into Numbuh 4000's room…right after she changed clothes. She appreciated the visit you gave her, but I didn't appreciate you using my treehouse as a runway for non-dry guys!"

"I helped fix the place up!" Numbuh 2000 defends.

"For 6 seconds!" Numbuh 1000 swallows his twizzlin. "6 hours later, you woke up with a headache...just like every time you drink."

There is brief silence before, "What's really up, man? You usually laugh about me getting hyped till eleventy-hundred pounds of snot come out of your nose. Now, you're hounding me worse than my mom. Worse! Worse than Numbuh 3000! Worse! Worse than the supreme leader! Worse!—sorry, I'll stop." Numbuh 2000 stops in fear of his friend's look, despite the latter looking calm and casual. The two acknowledge what is below and stop in mid-air to talk.

"The place we just came from, Eadsin, it's got…memories. Some good. Most bad." Numbuh 1000 explains. "Thought by going there I'd feel better, but…my pocket of good feelings is empty. Guess it's something I just better live with."

"Or ignore!" Numbuh 2000 said cheerily, hoping to make his friend happy again. Taking the soda back, he continues "And as your buddy since the sandbox wars, it's my job to help you do that!"

"Nice try!" Numbuh 1000 swipes the soda back and pours it downwards to the dismay of his friend. "C'mon, let's go tell him. Wanna be home in time to watch the Toon Fights on pay-per-view."

The two descend towards the ground in the hopes of finding and speaking with someone they both know. They land in a cornfield and walk towards a bunch of older kids (about 12), who are having a wild party; some are dancing to the music on top of their go-karts; others are drinking soda and getting hyped; but most are picking the corn out of the crops around them and eating them. Why? Because it isn't ordinary corn. No siree. It's candy corn! The size of actual corn!

"Corn's always good fresh, eh bro?" Numbuh 1000 picks out one and eats it whole! "You-know-who would go nuts and become the most wanted kid in the state if she saw this."

"Theee oher gy wod be worse off sice he steals!" Numbuh 2000 adds, his mouth full of candy corn.

"There he is!" Numbuh 1000 points to a tall 12-year-old redheaded kid who looks a lot like him; his hairstyle being identical to his and his clothing being a reverse of his (Numbuh 1000's) own. Approaching the kid, who is speaking with a brunette ponytailed girl, a blonde girl, and an Asian boy his age as they ate the candy corn, the Sector L leader speaks, "Hey, Roland. Mom says time to come in. And that if you're a minute late, she's gonna strap you to a golden horseshoe and dunk your head in whiskey until you're a _bald_ ginger."

"You just made that up!" says the redheaded kid (now known as "Roland), who had a slight Irish accent, a departure from his younger brother's completely American one.

"Yeah, to be nice." Numbuh 1000 inserts another mini-twizzlin in his mouth. "You don't even wanna know she _really_ said. Made Dad and the baby cry. Mostly Dad."

While Numbuh 1000 converses with his elder brother, Numbuh 2000 sneaks a bottle of orange soda and just as he starts to drink, his attention shifts to a nearby scarecrow. Approaching it, he flinches in disgust when he smells the product it is composed of. Unlike most scarecrows that are composed of straw, this one is composed of, "Asparagus! Yecch! Just smelling it makes me wanna…drink."

Just as he is about to take a sip, something strange happens in that brief second. Something abnormal. Something weird. Something…terrifying. At the corner of his eye, Numbuh 2000 shifts his head to the direction of the scarecrow when he thought its eyes…turned red. Evil red. Before he could touch the object for a closer investigation,

"You're smart, but you're not slick!" Numbuh 1000 comes from behind him and snatches the soda from him, throwing it with great strength to another part of the field. He smirks, "When I said you're not drinking, I meant it! Next time I see you with a bottle and you're close-by a set of wheels or wings, I'm gonna shove it so far up your butt, you'll be crying out soda! Now, let's go."

"Hey, man." Numbuh 2000 stops his friend and points up at the scarecrow, "Any weird stories on these scarecrows? I mean, I know farmers use them to scare off birds 'cause they mess with the plants but-"

"These are "scarekids", man." Numbuh 1000 touches his friend's shoulder. "My rebel pepperhead brother's spent enough time out here every week to learn a few things. Like how these ugly dummies are supposed to keep us "snot-nosed city rascals from eatin' the profits!" He says with a southern accent and air quotes. "Course if the sugar-hogging hick grown-up who put them out here wanted to be really effective, he should've used spinach or broccoli."

"Know that much." Numbuh 2000 continues, "But are they supposed to…you know…have twizzlin-colored eyes?"

Numbuh 1000 laughs briefly before he pulls his friend away, "Better get you away from the asparagus before you end up in a rehab sector with Numbuh 1100!"

The two operatives fly home to Sector L on their respective S.K.I.C.L.E.S.

* * *

In the cornfields, five minutes later, Roland and the other kids are bagging all of the candy corn in sight and heading home in their respective go-karts before they get in trouble.

"Tomorrow morning?" Roland asks his friends as he walks up to his green go-kart on the street.

"Yeah! Sure! Awesome! See ya there!" They agree.

"AGH!" With a single, sudden cry of distress from one child, the group of four develop a mixed bag of emotions. Regardless, they race off to find the source of the cry, knocking down cornstalk after cornstalk along the way. But when they get there...there is no one in sight.

"Ugh, probably another group of lames who had too much to drink!" the ponytailed girl scoffs annoyed.

"Or some losers trying to act like the scarekids came to life and snatched them like in some of those even lamer movies!" The blonde girl folds her arms and snickers.

However, the Asian boy in the group takes a look around the cornfields and notices something that frightens the living daylights out of him. He expresses this by asking his friends, "Uh…where are the scarekids?"

Just as his friends cease laughing to take a look around, they hear multiple cries of distress from their fellow partygoers in addition to loud, violent, and aggressive rustling coming from within the cornstalks around them. Now instilled with fear, they turn around frequently and frantically as the sounds of the cornstalks rustling continues to fill the air. Shish! Shish! Shish! Shish! When the unseen events around them suddenly stop…

Roland looks at his friends in disbelief, "No! There's no way…"

"AGH! AGGH! AGHH!" The blonde girl is snatched by a living, breathing scarekid with moist asparagus skin and gleaming red eyes! They try to get her from it, but it was too strong for them to handle and they are thrown backwards and forced to watch her get dragged away!

"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!" Roland and his remaining two friends make a run for the former's kart on the street, once again knocking down cornstalk after cornstalk!

"AGH! AGH! AGH!" The Asian boy is overpowered and dragged away by a scarekid, which displayed a powerful jumping ability along with the rest of the creatures!

"AGH! ROLAND!" The ponytailed girl is taken away by another scarekid, this one covering her mouth!

Roland is kept from reaching his kart by two scarekids, forcing him to take a detour and go even further into the cornfields. He runs and runs and runs, but has no idea that the dozens of scarekids surrounding and pursuing him are about to catch up with him! He looks back and doesn't see anything, but upon looking in front, he runs right into an empty scarekid post!

"Oh! Uh!" Roland rubs his head in pain, but remembers he is being chased and stands up swiftly. Despite being no match for the creatures, he is prepared to fight for his life. Paranoid and terrified, he swiftly looks and turns around repeatedly for the preying scarekids. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Roland then hears a creaking noise coming from above. Slowly looking up, he finds, to his horror, that a scarekid is bearing down on him and is preparing to pounce on him!

"MOMMY!" The scarekid pounces on Roland, keeps him in a headlock, walks casually back to the post, and just as the creature grabs it, it (the scarekid), the post, and the screaming Roland are pulled underground!

The cornfields are now completely deserted and silent. Not a single speck of animate life is around. Not even crickets and grasshoppers. Only crushed cornstalks and abandoned go-karts remain. Although not too far away, the forty-something-year-old Farmer George Levi, having stepped outside and heard the commotion earlier, smirks knowingly into a walky-talky with a southern accent, "It's done."

* * *

The Sector L headquarters resembles a treehouse-possessed version of the white house, but has tall pillars on every corner and the dome is more akin to the one on the Taj Mahal. From the bottom four floors to the dome at the very top are the numbers designated to the operatives living there; 5k, 4k, 3k, 2k, and 1k on the dome. The two-story home it is growing out of belongs to the "Grove" family. Numbuh 1000's family.

Within the treehouse, Numbuhs 1 and 2000 are sitting at the long wooden kitchen table sharing their collected candy corn with their friends, intent on eating it for breakfast, which they do.

"You're right, Alex." Numbuh 3000 agrees with Numbuh 2000. "If you try, you can smell a hint of asparagus on this stuff. In which case, you _shouldn't_ try. Though I kinda wish you tried getting more."

Numbuh 3000 is a very beautiful girl who bears a striking resemblance to Numbuh 10, the only difference being that her long hair is brown and that she does not have a beauty-mark (though she does have green eyes). She is wearing a long-sleeved blue denim jacket with a long-sleeved purple T-shirt underneath, blue jeans (lighter than 2000's), and purple and white sneakers. She is so busy munching hungrily on her share of the candy corn that she doesn't acknowledge Numbuh 4000 glaring at her for her "getting-more" comment until…

"Okay really, sis?" Numbuh 4000 scolds her sister. "I know you're greedy, but ungrateful, too?"

Like her sister, Numbuh 4000 is a very pretty girl. She bears a striking resemblance to "Katie" from **Operation U.T.O.P.I.A**, from her vivid green eyes to her long hair being in a ponytail at the bottom. Her hair itself, however, is orange rather than brown. She is wearing a short-sleeved white T-shirt, pink jeans, and white low-heel boots. She is merely five months younger than her sister, having been prematurely born into the world around her.

"I'm just saying, he knows I love candy and that I'll eat most of it! So, why not get enough to make sure I can't eat _all_ of it?" Numbuh 3000 shrugs.

"Are you kidding?" Numbuh 4000 scoffs. "You get a look at that cornfield, you'll get so reckless with stealing the sweet stuff, before you know it, you'll end up the most wanted kid in the state. If you can, you'll eat—_gasp_!"

Numbuh 3000 holds up a light-green stuffed rabbit toy to shut Numbuh 4000 up.

"The limited-edition lime-emerald Gemstone Bunny! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" Numbuh 4000 snatches and squeezes the toy tightly, reverting back to her usual cheery self.

"Next time, _sis,_ when referring to one of your friends as someone who steals, look at the one on the right." Numbuh 3000 taunts.

"Hey, keep me out of this!" Numbuh 5000 admonishes insulted. "And it's not stealing! It's borrowing without asking."

"Borrowing without _caring_ to ask." Numbuh 1000 corrects, inserting yet another mini-twizzlin in his mouth after finishing his "breakfast".

"Not like they'll miss it…much." Also the tallest of his friends, Numbuh 5000 is a biracial child, having Caucasian and Hispanic heritage (though he leans slightly more towards the latter). As his vision is clouded, he is wearing contact lenses. His choice of attire is a gray hoodie with a long-sleeved orange T-shirt underneath, black/gray jeans, and orange and white sneakers.

"Let's talk about something more…interesting." Numbuh 3000 looks to Numbuh 1000, "Like what you found back home in Ireland yesterday. You went to Eadsin, right?"

"Yeah and I found the same thing most adults do when they try to think. Nothing." Numbuh 1000 sighs disappointed, though strangely with a smile.

"Then why the-" Numbuh 3000 starts.

"Upside down frown?" Numbuh 1000 replies, "I didn't spend a lot of time in Ireland before coming here. I was hardly a couple months old. But I don't even need to be born there just to know a good luck and/or bad luck sign. This sign is telling me I need to find a way to forget what's there and keep on moving on."

"Robin! Come downstairs! I need to talk to you!" A woman with an Irish accent calls out to Numbuh 1000.

"Bad luck for breakfast." Numbuh 1000 walks off to meet with his mother.

"You should go with him." Numbuh 2000 advises Numbuh 3000, finishing up his candy corn.

"You're the best friend and war buddy." Numbuh 3000 reminds.

"You're the _girl _friend and _boss_ buddy." Numbuh 2000 retorts.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Numbuh 3000 defensively shouts with a blush.

"Chill, Renee! I meant you're a girl and his friend. Like you are with me. Geez." Numbuh 2000 put his hands up and scoots back in his chair.

"Oh." Numbuh 3000's blush now resembles embarrassment, especially when Numbuhs 4 and 5000 glared at her with taunting smiles. Getting up, she walks off, "I'm gonna go with Robbie."

"Finally! Can't do nothing with those two in one place hounding me." His other superior officer out of sight, Numbuh 2000 zips over to the tall fridge and grabs a lemon-lime soda. Popping the lid, "7 hours dry. Way too long!"

"Alexander Harris!" Numbuh 4000 swings her hip with a scowl, causing him to turn around. "Do you wanna fix my room again? This time for more than 6 seconds?"

"Aw, c'mon!" Numbuh 2000 whines. "You're not gonna tell your sister or Rob over a stupid-"

"Only if you promise to see the Gemstone Bunny mini-marathon with me, later today." Numbuh 4000 propositions with a sweet, cheery smile, to which Numbuh 2000 replies by putting the drink back in disgust. Numbuh 4000 then glares at 5000 for snickering.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Grove house living room, Numbuh 1000 is told by his mother (whose face is unseen and is holding a baby girl with red hair like her oldest brother) that Roland never came home last night and never called. She assumes that he went on a sleepover without her consent, but Numbuh 1000 instinctively knows something else is up.

"I'll find him, Mom." Numbuh 1000 assures. "I've got a pretty good idea about where he is."

"But I had no idea where _you_ were last night, young man!" Mrs. Grove points in her son's face, making the baby cry. "You came home before curfew, but you didn't call me like you normally do! Don't start acting like-"

"Uh, he was with me, Mrs. Grove!" Numbuh 3000 comes from behind Numbuh 1000 and touches his shoulders, having heard everything from behind the couch. "We were playing on my trampoline and lost track of time. You know us kids. All we think about is sweets and fun. Mostly sweets, though."

"Oh, well then." Mrs. Grove then says in a cheery voice, "Next time, if you're going to stay over without looking at the clock, at least remember to call. What would he do without you, Ms. Benjamin?"

"Couldn't tell you!" Numbuh 3000 replies with a smile.

Once Mrs. Grove goes back upstairs, Numbuh 1000 glances at Numbuh 3000, "I owe you for the save. But now, we gotta save someone else."

* * *

**KND**

* * *

In the treehouse conference room (the living room), Numbuh 5000 is typing on the mega-large computer to meet Numbuh 1000's request, but replies when he doesn't get results, "If there was trouble, you know the alarm would go off. You sure your Mom isn't right about Roland sleeping over somewhere else without telling her?"

"Yeah, isn't it just like Roland to stay out and forget to call?" Numbuh 2000 points out.

"Nah, pepperhead hasn't done that since last month." Numbuh 1000 folds his arms. "Mom practically ripped his hair out and put it in the chili as a warning. You tried tapping into the phones of his friends? Callie, Nina, and Rico? You should be-"

"-Able to track them down through the KND satellite, I know. I tried that." Numbuh 5000 explains, "But I didn't get anything but a ripple."

"Ripple?!" The other operatives repeat confused.

"It's a visual version of communication static." Numbuh 5000 elaborates, "When in the process of trying to track something or someone down, if the attempt fails, it's because there's a ripple. And if there's a ripple, there's two reasons for why it's there: 1; something's up with the satellite."

"Which is unpossible since you and the nerd herd perfected it before you launched it into space." Numbuh 3000 smiles.

Ignoring Numbuh 3000, 5000 continues "And 2; most commonly there's some form of transmission interference."

"Transmission interference?" Numbuh 1000 repeats. "Last I saw them, they were in the candy cornfields making the likes of these two look like amateurs at their own game."

"HEY!" Numbuhs 2 and 3000 retort in offense, believing no one is more passionate than they are at consuming what they love.

"Call me crazy, but I think there's something…out there in those cornfields besides candy corn." Numbuh 5000 stands up in deep thought.

"Yeah, a farm ran by a guy named Brown." Numbuh 1000 scoffs. "Given his reaction to kids that aren't his, I'd say he used high-tech haystacks to snatch my brother and the others."

"I thought his name was Levi?" Numbuh 4000 holds her finger up, her friends staring at her in frustration at the fact that she doesn't get that her leader is being sardonic as usual. "I'm just saying! That's what it says his name is in the ads."

"Know what? That's not the weirdest idea you've ever had, so let's take it seriously." Numbuh 1000 inserts another mini-twizzling in his mouth. "Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna go to those cornfields and see if we can find anything that doesn't belong. Let's roll!"

* * *

**KND**

* * *

On their respective S.K.I.C.L.E.S, the team has just recently flown into the cornfields in search of anything out of the ordinary. But because the fields are so large and tall, they haven't had much luck the first two minutes until…

"Hey guys, I found something!" Numbuh 5000 shouts, garnering the attention of his teammates. He shows them a tilted pink go-kart that is covered in cornstalk.

"Hey, that's Nina's kart! And my brother would never leave her! They sit in a tree and you-know-what too much!" Numbuh 1000 realizes. "Awesome job, Numbuh 5000! See if you guys can find anymore and drag them back here!"

And sure enough, they do; using the strength they've derived from their exposure to the sugarsoldier serum years ago as a tool. Numbuh 4000 finds a blue kart. Numbuh 3000 finds a yellow one. Numbuh 2000 finds a black and white one. Numbuh 1000 finds Roland's red kart and an upside down green one, dragging them both back to where he and his team have agreed to meet up.

"My idea's not so weird now, huh?" Numbuh 5000 glances at Numbuh 1000, "Obviously some of these guys never made it out of here."

"But do you really think there's some sort of transmission interference or whatever out here in the countryside?" Numbuh 3000 asks.

"That's what I'm trying to find out!" Numbuh 5000 takes out a square device made of wood, metal, and the antennae of a toy robot.

"Well, you'll never find the source all by yourself in Crop County." Numbuh 1000 utters. "You got anymore of those tracers?"

"Yeah, built into a few of the treehouse's examination drones." Numbuh 5000 points to the sky at several crop-duster-shaped machines flying over the cornfields. "They're the ones you-know-who trashed flying into Numbuh 4000's room. Waste no scrap, my dad says. Should find the source of the interference in no time."

"Sweet!" Numbuh 1000 touches Numbuh 5000's shoulder impressed.

"So, what's the plan _el_ _capitan_?" Numbuh 2000 asks his friend. "And does it involve getting a drink? I'm thirsty."

"Hope you're thirsty for milk, 'cause that's all you're gonna get when we head up to the Levi Farm." Numbuh 1000 explains, "While Numbuh 5000 is looking for clues to the missing 'burb and city kids, we're gonna talk to Levi's daughters about what they know."

"Why his daughters?" Numbuh 2000 asks.

"They're kids." Numbuhs 3 and 4000 answer in unison.

"And he's stubborn." Numbuh 1000 puts his arm around Numbuh 2000's neck buddy-style, "Word of advice since you've never been on a farm, buddy: never look the girls on the ranch in the eye. It'll make them flirty and the good ol' boy farmer's gonna shoot at you if you talk to them. Get it?"

"Got it." Numbuh 2000 gulps uncomfortably.

"Good." Numbuh 1000 smirks.

* * *

**KND**

* * *

At the Levi Farm, Numbuhs 1 through 4000 are speaking with the twin daughters of Farmer Levi, Hannah and Patience, both having an accent, blonde hair (though Hannah has hers long and Patience in pigtails), and an affinity for plaid clothing. Humorously, both Hannah and Patience flirtatiously and respectively have their hands on one of Numbuh 1000's hands as they speak at the kitchen table, which seems to annoy Numbuh 3000!

"So, you've never _seen_ anything weird? Just heard?" Numbuh 1000 asks.

"Not till last night. Your other cute city folk and their floozies came out here and ate our corn for a few hours like they do every week and then…we started hearing screaming." Hannah explains. "At first I thought it was those scarekids out there finally doing some good, but then, we saw all these contraptions out in the cornfields and no one ridin' or even near 'em."

"They're called go-karts." Numbuh 3000 smirks seemingly agitated. "And sis, please stop Numbuh 2000 before he drinks that entire six pack!"

"What?!" Numbuhs 1 and 4000 turn around and see Numbuh 2000 drinking two bottles of grape soda down at once!

"Gimme those bottles!" Numbuh 4000 chases Numbuh 2000 out into the farm and seemingly enjoys it.

"Think that's somethin'?" Patience butts in. "One of those contraptions were next to where a scarekid post was supposed to be."

"Supposed to be?!" Numbuhs 1 and 3000 ask in unison surprised.

"Darn right." Patience utters. "One minute it wasn't there, I turn my back when Hannah tells me she found another contraption and 'round again, the post and the scarekid are back where they belong."

"Pa says ya'll we're tryin' to pull a prank." Hannah affectionately touches Numbuh 1000's chin, "Know what I say?"

"No, and he doesn't care!" Numbuh 3000 stands up and grabs Numbuh 1000 out of his seat. "Thanks for your time, hillie and billie."

Once outside, Numbuh 1000 asks his second-in-command, "So, what do you think? Truth…or cow patty?"

Numbuh 3000 gives him a stern look.

"Calm it down. So tense!" Numbuh 1000 shrugs. "But seriously?"

"To be honest, I was more caught up in their gross sense of style. Ugh! Hick or no hick, get a catalogue!" Numbuh 3000 shudders in disgust. "Other than that, I would say that their work isn't the only thing that's honest."

"You mean you believe those scarekids are…alive." Numbuh 1000 snickers.

Before she can reply, "I kn-kn-kn-kn-knew it!" Numbuh 2000, now all hyped up from drinking the six-pack of soda (despite 4000's efforts), comes crashing through the fence at his friends and flails in the air before falling to the ground!

"Oh, Jeez! Not again." Numbuhs 1 and 3000 pinch their respective foreheads, though the former is actually laughing.

Numbuh 2000 stands up while fidgeting, "S-s-see w-w-what did I t-t-t-tell y-y-you, b-b-bro? T-t-t-those a-a-a-asparagus-gutted c-c-c-creeps h-h-h-h-have minds of t-t-t-their own-n-n-n!"

"We won't know for sure until Numbuh 5000 comes back up here with some info." Numbuh 3000 replies. "And where's Numbuh 4000? She was supposed to stop you from getting hyped…again!"

_"Was?_ Am I too late?" Numbuh 4000 hops over the destroyed fence.

"_Way_ too late!" Her superiors told her.

"Guess what you're watching with me while you're drying up tonight?" Numbuh 4000 tries to keep the fidgeting Numbuh 2000 into place.

"I'm n-n-n-not watching any b-b-b-baby, g-g-g-girly cartoon with y-y-y-you!" Numbuh 2000 almost falls, but Numbuhs 4 and 1000 catch him.

"Guys! We got data!" Numbuh 5000 runs up to his friends with his device, his machines still flying over the cornfields in the background. "Looks like my other hunch was right! If the source of the interference isn't on the surface, then it must be burrowed under the cornstalks! Underground!"

"I think you're leaving out the part where the candy cornstalks stretch across for a least half a mile." Numbuh 3000 points out, "Not that I mind taking the challenge of eating it all just to-"

"Didn't forget that at all, Numbuh 3000." Numbuh 5000 interrupts. "The drones picked up signals where the ripples were at their strongest last night. And they were pretty strong, 'cause after a few hours, the signal of the averagely potent ripple would vanish completely. But anyway, the places where the ripples were at their strongest were…right up underneath the scarekid posts."

Surprised and shocked, Numbuhs 1 and 3000 look at each other. Could it be possible for the scarecrows-made-for-kids to be the culprits behind the missing party kids, they wonder?

"S-s-see, didn't I t-t-t-tell you?! Those f-f-f-freaks are al-l-l-live!" Numbuh 2000 flails around wildly, but Numbuh 4000 barely manages to keep him in place.

"Oh, great! And he rode a bike here!" Numbuh 5000 comments. "Wait! Did he steal soda from that farmhouse or something? I don't remember seeing-"

"Oh, blonde city-boy!" Hannah and Patience wave bye to Numbuh 1000 and blow him kisses, which the latter responds to by looking down and blushing slightly, but not letting down his typical calm, cool look.

"Let's go, blonde city boy!" Numbuh 3000 irately pushes her leader out into the cornfields and towards the team's respective S.K.I.C.L.E.S, but not before sticking her tongue out at the farm girls in disgust.

"So while I'm workin' my butt off, 2k steals my thunder by stealing, er _borrowing_ something from someone's fridge and 1k steals my stolen thunder by talking to two hot girls my age with blonde hair and accents?" Numbuh 5000 complains. "I hate both of you! I want you both to take a spinach pill and keel over!"

"And I want you to wear a diaper and whine on your own time and get one of those drones to get 2000's S.K.I.C.L.E. since he's riding with 4000." Numbuh 1000 swallows his twizzlin as he gets on his S.K.I.C.L.E. He smirks and shakes his head from left to right when he sees 2000 jittering around while sitting behind 4000 on her bike, his arms around her waist.

As the Sector L agents take to the skies back home, Farmer Levi, who has been watching and spying on them ever since they entered his house and walked outside, speaks into his walky as the agents fly off, "Them KNDogs got the scent."

"_They certainly work fast, but the consequence will be relatively little on our part. Allow them access, but make it convincing. Their leader is more brilliant than some of his fellow operatives, so he'll recognize an ensnarement strategy when he glimpses one." _A mysterious, deep, raspy voice utters on the other end.

"Bet he won't know a shotgun blast before he sees it! Fraternizin' with my lil girls!" Farmer Levi cocks his shotgun, which fires energy blasts rather than bullets, menacingly.

"_No! No personal interference on your end. You may compromise us." _The voice demands.

"Aw, dagnabit!" Levi pouts dejected.

* * *

**KND**

* * *

At the treehouse medical center, Numbuh 4000 happily hums a tune while she uses her medical expertise to cause the flailing Numbuh 2000 to fall asleep via a "Chocolate-flavored Naptime Candy Pill" placed in a cup of water before she places a bag of ice on his forehead in preparation for another impending headache.

In the treehouse conference room, Numbuh 1000 stands on the podium as he discusses the information gathered with Numbuhs 3 and 5000, who are sitting on the sofas in front.

"Let's face it. Scarekids coming to life isn't half as weird as some of the other things we've fought before. But what's weird is that they're snatching kids _now_. I mean, kids have been going up there and stealing corn for months!" Numbuh 5000 munches on a few mini-twizzlins.

"Did you seriously steal those from my room while talking about someone else stealing?" Numbuh 1000 folds his arms sternly, but calmly.

"Again, I don't steal. I borrow. Can't believe I didn't make that clear after all these years of fighting with you." Numbuh 5000 rolls his eyes.

"Hold on. When did we agree that those scarekids actually came to life and took Roland and all the other kids?" Numbuh 3000 interrupts. "How do we know those two country chicks didn't cause them to vanish?"

"And what would their motivation be?" Numbuh 1000 replies with a brief southern accent, "Just 'cause their _Pa's_ _lil'_ _angel_ _girls_? Get real, Numbuh 3000. 5000's got a pretty good point. Why is this the first time kids have been taken and why now? Why-"

The sector leader doesn't finish his sentence. He bows his head down in deep thought instead.

"What's wrong?" Numbuh 3000 asks.

"You guys remember what time 2000 and I came home last night?" He asks suddenly.

"Uh…like five minutes till 7:30 or something." Numbuh 5000 scratches his head, confused at the question.

"7:30 is the statewide curfew for everyone under 13, right?" Numbuh 1000 asks, his two teammates nod in confirmation. "Levi knows that. And with his scarekids, he could be taking advantage of that. Since my brother and all those other kids are always trying to stay number 1 in the rebel game, it only makes sense that they stay beyond curfew just to look good. Not even knowing they made a bad call 'til it's too late and they get snatchified by those Wizard of Oz rejects."

"Wait, you think Levi is behind this?" Numbuh 3000 asks doubtful.

"He's our only suspect and he's got a motive typical of any rotten loser adult." Numbuh 1000. "He's obviously sick of kids eating his crops and when he finally gets that the scarekids don't work as dummies, my guess is he used some kind of fertilizing hocus-pocus to pull a Frankenstein and not just scare the kids…"

"…But snatch them, too! To make double-sure they can't mess with his crops again!" Numbuh 3000 stands up and points in excitement. "Duh! It's obvious! Why didn't I see that?"

"Again, you guys are only looking on the surface." Numbuh 5000 touches his chin. "If those scarekids were brought to life by some fertilizing hocus-pocus, then that means the stuff had to have been given to him by someone. I mean, you can't just throw manure on asparagus and animate the body it was shaped into."

"You're right." Numbuh 3000 agrees.

"And if you keep in mind that I found signs of ripples beneath the posts where the scarekids are, which are all over the cornfields by the way, then that should tell you that the guy supplying Levi with the means to bring those creeps to life might actually be there." Numbuh 5000 deduces. "And if we're lucky, with everyone there. Roland. Nina. Everyone!"

"An underground base." Numbuh 1000 adds. "And so that the candy corn isn't kept from growing by the disturbance of the base's being there at their roots, I'd say it's _deep_ underground! But that's not gonna keep us from finding it!"

"Then let's go!" Numbuh 3000 cracks her knuckles.

"Not yet, Numbuh 3000." Numbuh 1000 touches her shoulder. "If I'm right, those Halloween freakshows only play creep n catch past curfew. So, we need to wait several hours; way more than enough time for my popaholic pal to dry up and take us back to hick candy-land."

"And just enough time to shoot and record our news segments for tonight." Numbuh 5000 adds.

* * *

**KND**

* * *

It is 15 minutes till 7:30 and the entire team (including the "dried-up" Numbuh 2000) is standing in a hangar filled with many different aerial, aquatic, and ground vehicles that they have ridden in over the years; each one built by Numbuh 5000 and his subordinate-droids. Though, Numbuh 5000 is prepared to unveil his latest transportation machine underneath a giant cloth.

"Can't believe you made me watch that lousy Gymshort Bunny mini-marathon after I woke up!" Numbuh 2000 complains at Numbuh 4000, who cheerily regrets nothing. "That so-called "show" distracted me during the news shoots!"

"It's _Gemstone_ Bunny!" Numbuh 4000 scolds, slightly angered.

"I know what I said!" Numbuh 2000 pouts. "Made me and 1000 miss the Toon Fights!"

"Oh, please! That was a rerun!" Numbuh 4000 retorts. "Besides, you need to learn how to love nature!"

Numbuh 2000 fires back, "Yeah, well you need to be punched in the-"

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Flirt on your own time you two!" Numbuh 1000 calmly interrupts.

"Flirt?!" Numbuhs 2 and 4000 blush and look away from each other in embarrassment.

"Here it is, guys! New and improved!" Numbuh 5000 and his droids (resembling the "Hammerdrones" from Iron man 2, but with an orange/gray color scheme) pull down the cloth to reveal a red/white vehicle identical to a cement truck, but where the cement mixer is supposed to be is replaced by a giant, shiny drill! The ingenious operative continues,

"Re-introducing the-"

* * *

**KIDS NEXT DOOR: D.I.G.G.E.R.**

**D**igging, **I**nstantaneously, **G**arners, **G**reat,** E**xcavating, **R**esults

* * *

"Doesn't look too different." Numbuh 3000 points out.

"You'll love this, 2000! D.I.G.G.E.R, commence aeronautical alteration sequence." Numbuh 5000 commands, causing D.I.G.G.E.R to change into an F22-like aerial machine with the same color scheme as before, but also with the drill where the nose usually is!

"Snap!" Instantly excited, Numbuh 2000 rushes onboard to take the lone pilot's seat. The others enter the aircraft before Numbuh 2000 flies them out of the hangar and into the night sky. Inside, we can see Numbuh 5000 sitting next to 2000 at the very front, the former studying something on the computer screen before him. Numbuh 3000 is sitting across from Numbuh 4000 on the left side of the craft, the former admiring herself in the portable mirror before her and the latter playing with her lime-emerald Gemstone Bunny in addition to the more common emerald-green Gemstone Bunny. Numbuh 1000 is sitting in the middle of the ship in a black recliner chair. Having already told everyone of the plan before they left headquarters, the sector leader is now using the silence he has just ordered around him to meditate and get in the fighting shape. At first, he struggles due to some resurfacing, horrid memories from his past prior to joining the KND.

* * *

_**He is 7 years old and is wearing a black/green ninja uniform with what appears to be a green chocolate-chip-shaped symbol on his back and strangely, having dark red hair and multiple small bangs. His memories depict him using some form of martial arts to brutally fight and defeat a group of teenagers in a small Irish village (presumably Eadsin) while rain is heavily dropping from the dark clouds above. He is ordered by a bigger and older kid with brown**_ _**hair to "finish them". He refuses at first. When the older kid points an energy-tipped arrow at the back of his head, the young future operative snatches a long sword from a fellow uniformed kid and while it looks like he is going to strike them with it, he actually strikes the barrels close to them, which spill a liquid that causes the group to develop acne and zits, much to their horror (they are teenagers after all). The level of remorse for this action causes him to shed a small tear.**_

* * *

"Mm!" Numbuh 1000 grunts as he awakens. He sees that they are not yet at the cornfields, so he goes back to his meditation attempt, trying harder this time. He manages to get focused, but not completely due to the fact that…

"Destination: Hick Candyland!" Numbuh 2000 promptly tells everyone that they have made it to their destination just five minutes after Numbuh 1000 closed his eyes a second time.

"All righty!" Numbuh 1000 coolly inserts another twizzlin in his mouth. "Bring down the toys and let's start playing!"

Numbuh 5000 complies, "Computer, unearth weapons tech immediately."

From an opening in the ceiling, two large trunks are lowered down via a small machine and open automatically. The first one has "handguns" and strap-rifles that are composed of wood, a special kind of futuristic metal that provides stability, shiny disks in small packs that provide ammo, and belts with at least two holsters for the handguns. Though each of them are painted to look like harmless kids' water pistols/blasters, adding to the deceptiveness of their approach. Numbuh 3000 takes two handguns and four disk-packs. Numbuh 2000 takes a rifle and two disk-packs. Numbuh 5000 takes a special-looking handgun (it is all metal, no wood) and one disk-pack. And Numbuh 4000, being the trigger-happy one of the team, swipes a rifle and two handguns, but no disk-packs as she feels she won't need them with three guns in her possession.

As for the second trunk, it has weapons exclusively for Numbuh 1000. In it, there are three quivers, each one possessing seventeen arrows with energy-irradiated arrowheads. There are also three identical compound-like bows for the arrows; all of them composed of metal and wood. In addition, there is a sword-handle that extends into an energy-blade once it is gripped by its owner. Though Numbuh 1000 prefers unarmed combat altogether, he couldn't take the risk. So he grabs a quiver, a bow, his retractable blade, and joins his team in jumping out of the aircraft, which he witnesses fly up out of sight into the night sky.

"Time, 3000?" Numbuh 1000 asks with a confident smile.

She looks at her phone, "7:31."

"Missed it! And I didn't even start shooting yet!" Numbuh 4000 pouts dejected.

"What happened to loving nature?" Numbuh 2000 taunts.

"Not _freaks_ of nature that snatch poor, innocent kids!" Numbuh 4000 replies.

"See what I _don't_ see?" Numbuh 5000 looks up at a scarekid post. Only there is no, "Scarekid."

Shish! Shish! Shish! Shish! Suddenly, the team hear wild rustling within the cornfields all around them. They remain back to back (to back-to-back-to-back) in preparation for whatever is approaching them.

"Get ready." Numbuh 1000 orders calmly.

The objects around them get closer. And closer. And closer. Then…shish! It suddenly stops. The rustling. The sounds of approach. While 2, 4, and 5000 lower their guard…

"Heads up!" Numbuh 1000 shouts, though is still completely calm. "Asparagus dummies at 12!"

"GNAGGGGGH!" Above the quintet, to their surprise, are at least two dozen scarekids sinisterly descending towards them with the intention of attacking and abducting them!

Numbuh 1000 readies three arrows (at once) in his bow. Numbuh 2000 cocks his rifle. Numbuh 3000 pulls out her two handguns and points them upwards. Numbuh 4000 aims her rifle upwards with a smile. Numbuh 5000 points his handgun upwards confidently.

"GNAGGGGGH!" The snarling scarekids drop closer to the group. And closer. And closer. And closer! Until…

* * *

**transmission interrupted**

* * *

**Author's Note:** As you've probably already guessed, the Gemstone Bunnies are the future version of Rainbow Monkeys, which have declined in popularity during this time. And about the lower case introduction above and below, that is actually how the old show formatted it and as I have said before, I want to do my own thing, but also stay true to the spirit of the KND as much as possible; the reason for why I have incorporated the whole candy-corn-farm thing into this. It is also why I retained things like the KND Nightly News and the nature of the true names of the primary operatives. By that I mean, real world references to the operatives' real names; Numbuh 1/Nigel Uno ("Uno" being Spanish and Italian for "One"), Numbuh 5/Abigail Lincoln ("Abraham Lincoln"'s face being on the five dollar bill), etc. Well, check out my version below!

* * *

"**Robin Grove", the true name of Sector L leader "Numbuh 1000", is named after "President Grover Cleveland", whose face is on the $1000 bill.**

"**Alexander "Alex" Harris", the true name of Sector L Transportation Expert "Numbuh 2000", is named after "Jason Harris", who hosted the game-show "Double Dare 2000" (and interestingly, started this job in the year 2000!). Also, Harris voiced Numbuh 274 in the old KND show btw!**

"**Renee Benjamin", the true name of Sector L Second-in-Command "Numbuh 3000", is named after rapper/actor "Andre' "3000" Benjamin", who if you recall, produced and created that cool, but short-lived cartoon show, "Class of 3000"!**

* * *

**Okay, so it was more character introduction and development than action, but next chapter, ohh! You better hold on! There'll be so much action that you might just beg me to tone it down for further chapters! And as for Numbuh 1000's past and this fictional place called "Eadsin", there will be more references to that next chapter and for chapters afterwards, it will be greatly explored! And just so you know, Numbuh 1000's being an archery expert and having the name "Robin" is not a reference to Robin Hood, but to me. Part of my name is Robin and I've been into archery since I was 13; and later I thought, it would be awesome to write a character with archery skills! Well, until I update, Dragon out!**

* * *

**P.S- A little trivia for you: "Farmer George Levi" is named after "George Renninger", the inventor of candy corn!**

**The Ks in "1k, 2k, 3k, 4k, and 5k" stand for "Kilo", meaning "Thousand".**


	3. Operation SCAREKID (part 2)

**Author's note: **Whoo! Sorry I took so long everyone! My work hours increased lately due to some of my co-workers getting sick and/or calling out at the last minute! I can't promise anything, but I will definitely TRY to update much sooner! But enough of that! On with Operation S.C.A.R.E.K.I.D part 2!

* * *

**connection reestablished**

* * *

"Steady! Steady!" Numbuh 1000 calmly orders his team not to attack just yet. This does nothing to keep him and the others from keeping their guard up, however.

_Chomp_! Excited, Numbuh 4000 puts a big wad of bubblegum in her mouth and chews it up vigorously.

The twenty-two scarekids' collective descent is nearly complete. Three finally manage to touch ground and go right for Numbuh 1000 himself, the latter only responding with a confident grin and the aiming of his bow and arrows at the frontline creature trio. With precise accuracy and extraordinary skill, the leading operative thwarts their attempts to attack him by releasing all three of his energy-tipped arrows, blowing them to bits and pieces of asparagus!

"4000!" Witnessing the descent and rapid approach of the remaining scarekids, Numbuh 1000 simply looks to his diversionary agent, feeling no need to tell her the details of what to do next given that everyone already knows the plan (even her).

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" With unnatural joy, Numbuh 4000 shoots at and successfully dispatches four more scarekids with her rifle…

"That leaves 15, 1k!" Numbuh 5000 elaborates. "Split up and meet up at the farm?"

"And make Levi sing like a canary about how he brought these green freaks to life! Kids Next Door…WASTE 'EM!"

On their leader's orders, Sector L disperse in five different directions, knocking down and utterly crushing cornstalk after cornstalk in the process. Each operative is pursued by three scarekids, which are having initial difficulty with catching up with their targets despite their unique jumping ability due to the younglings' respective level of unnatural speed; one of the many results of the sugarsoldier serum.

* * *

"Break off, you creeps!" Numbuh 5000, tired with the pursuit upon realizing he is perhaps the farthest from Levi Farm, stops and points his all-metal pistol at the trio of scarekids; the creatures causing a shockwave when they land directly in front of the Sector L technician.

"GNAHH!" The snarling creatures slowly and menacingly approach their target. If one listens closely, they could swear that the moist green monsters are actually laughing. Still, this does nothing to deter Numbuh 5000, who cocks his gun and shoots one very tiny energy blast in each of the creatures' "chests". The attack seemingly does nothing and the beasts simply stare at their young enemy confused; the latter in turn staring at the scarekids victoriously. Just then…

_GABOOM! _All three scarekids suddenly explode mushroom-style and cause a shockwave so powerful that it covers a portion of the cornfields in smoke and knocks over quite a few cornstalks. It seems that Numbuh 5000's all-metal pistol is special in ways beyond its appearance.

"Solid!" Triumphant and feeling old school, Numbuh 5000 blows the smoke out of his pistol and proceeds to head to the Levi Farm.

* * *

In another section of the cornfields, Numbuh 4000 is hiding eagerly under a go-kart while her three scarekid opponents look for her; completely confused and ignorant to her plan of catching them off-guard and destroying them with her weapons.

_Ha! Ha! Ha! _Still silently under the kart, Numbuh 4000 points her rifle at one of the scarekids and begins her assault.

_Bang! Bang! Bang! _Laughing while she does it, Numbuh 4000 manages to blow off one of the scarekids' right arm, another's left leg, and the right-half of the last one's face! This little stunt of hers causes her to run out of ammo for her rifle and due to the fact that she didn't take any extras, she is forced to break out her two pistols.

"GNAHH!" Regardless of their injuries, the three monsters lunge at Numbuh 4000, keen on destroying her as if it is the single most important thing they could do with themselves.

"TASTE RAPID FIRE, FREAKSHOWS! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!" Overly excited, Numbuh 4000 jumps over the attacking trio of scarekids while she simultaneously shoots down at them with both pistols. She lands with a victorious smirk only after two of the three drop to the ground dead.

The last scarekid launches itself at her, but she decides against shooting it right away and instead blows a large bubble and shoots that with her right pistol, trapping the scarekid in a large gooey mess just as it reaches her and rendering it completely helpless.

"Can't wait to tell my sapphire shoot-first-and-as-questions-later Gemstone Bunny about this little trick!" Numbuh 4000 blows a small bubble before she blows the last of her scarekid opponents to pieces with her left pistol. Satisfied, she runs off to Levi Farm.

* * *

Numbuh 3000 strikes one scarekid in the back of the head before she kicks it into the other two, causing a dogpile. Next, two of the scarekids try a double-team by launching at the Sector L Deputy, but she casually shoots them both in the face with both pistols six times each, removing their heads and causing their asparagus bodies to drop.

The final scarekid swings at Numbuh 3000, but she back-bends to avoid the attack, cripples the creature by shooting it in both of its knees with her left pistol, and holds onto its straw hat-covered head before she sticks her right pistol in its mouth and blows its head clean off!

"Sweet!" Numbuh 3000 starts to run off to the Levi Farm, but stops to grab a couple of cobs of candy corn and stuff them both in her mouth!

* * *

Numbuh 2000 is the only operative who has actually made it to the farm, though he is still being pursued by his three scarekid antagonists, which emerge from the cornfields.

"GNAHH!" The creatures collectively snarl sinisterly.

Numbuh 2000 repeatedly shoots at them with his rifle, but misses every shot due to their jumping ability.

"Hate to waste, but my neck's at stake!" Numbuh 2000 takes out a 20L bottle of pineapple soda, shakes it up to build up carbonation, and just as the scarekid assailants reach him, pops the lid off and blinds the monsters with the soda, forcing them to land violently and rub their pupil-less red eyes in pain!

"Easy as one…" Cocking his rifle, Numbuh 2000 blows the head off of one scarekid, "Two…", he blows off the head of another, "…three!" He blows the head off of the final one as well! To his surprise, Numbuh 4000 emerges from the cornfields and onto the farm.

* * *

Interestingly, Numbuh 1000's scarekid opponents aren't running _after_ him, but _from _him!

"GNAHH!" As if frightened, the scarekids pick up the pace when they see the smiling blonde child in the distance.

Oddly, the Sector L leader's running speed seems to be twice as great as his team's, as he is catching up with the scarekids easily whilst his teammates seem to have been only just as fast as the scarekids themselves.

"10 seconds are up, mean greens!" Numbuh 1000 jumps high into the air and using great physical speed and accuracy, consecutively takes out three more energy-tipped arrows and fires them at all three of his targets, impaling them all through the head before landing feet-first on the ground!

Numbuhs 3000 and 5000 emerge from the cornfields and watch as their superior calmly inserts yet another mini-twizzlin in his mouth before their attention shifts to the headless scarekids.

"Let me guess." Numbuh 3000 swings her "hip" smiling. "You beat up on them, gave them a 10-second head-start, and then took their heads off."

"Nail on the head, 3000." Numbuh 1000 then motions for the other two operatives to follow him to the Levi Farm, now that no other obstacle remains in their path.

* * *

On the farm, his rifle being clutched underneath his left arm, Numbuh 2000 is covering his ears with his hands in an attempt to drown Numbuh 4000 out; as she is once again talking about Gemstone Bunnies.

"Your arms are gonna get tired eventually and you know us girls can talk forever!" Numbuh 4000 yells with a smirk.

"At least until we guys duck-tape your mouths shut!" Numbuh 2000 retorts, briefly taking down his hands.

"Yeah, that's gonna happe-" Numbuh 4000 is interrupted by the sound of a shotgun cocking right behind them, causing them to put their guard back up.

Despite being guarded, neither of the agents could see anything due to the barn's complete and utter darkness. However, they are spared the effort of looking into the barn as they are approaching it due to…

"Snot-nosed City Rascals!" Farmer Levi steps out of the barn and into the open as he points his shotgun at the two operatives.

"You actually think you're a better shot than us? Especially than me?" Numbuh 4000 scoffs.

_GABOOM!_ Having already cocked it, Levi shoots at the two children and while they dodge the blue energy-bullet, the result of it impacting the ground is the formation a large crater and a booming noise that spread throughout the cornfields!

"What the-?" Numbuhs 2000 and 4000, slightly shaken up, grab their guns and stand up.

"Hold still ya…" Levi aims and fires again!

"OH, SNAP!" Numbuh 2000 narrowly dodges the second shot and tackles Numbuh 4000 to safety!

* * *

"That was 2000's voice." Numbuh 3000 recognizes.

"It sounds like it came from the farm." Numbuh 5000 realizes.

"The sonic-boom thing, too. Let's go!" Numbuh 1000 hastily speeds up, easily leaving the not-as-quick lower operatives in the dust. Reaching the farm, the sector commander jumps up in the air and sees Levi pointing his shotgun down at Numbuh 2000 and Numbuh 4000, who have fallen into a crater!

"Hold your fire, Old McDonald!" Numbuh 1000 shoots an arrow at the ground right behind Levi, causing the farmer to lose his balance and fall into the crater with the two Sector L operatives, who easily overpower and disarm him!

_"Now,_ let's get him to sing." Numbuh 4000 mischievously points her rifle at Levi's face while Numbuh 2000 keeps the man in a headlock.

"And don't think she means "E-I-E-I-O", either." Numbuh 1000 lands in front of the crater and smirks upon seeing 3000 and 5000 finally appear, "You guys need to shape up."

* * *

In the barn, which is now lit with a few lanterns, Sector L has Levi tied to a chair and are trying to get him to spill the secret behind the life breathed into his scarekid creations. The man's refusal to talk is met with the team's repeatedly sloshing him with pig's food spoils, but this changes nothing.

"Maybe an arrow would be more persuasive." Numbuh 3000 suggests to her leader.

"Hmm…better idea. 2k! 5k! Go wake up Hannah and Patience and talk to them. See if they'll like you." Numbuh 1000 sneers. He knows that Levi, being a true father, hates it when boys socialize with his daughters since that usually leads to liking. Especially if those boys are from the city.

"I don't know nothin', al right?!" Levi submits, driving Numbuhs 2000 and 5000 to stop. "I swears! Last month, some shady feller showed up here with a big truck and handed me a proposition! I let 'em use my land, they give me a way to keep ugly city rodents like you away from it! They took my scarekids one mornin', posts and everything, and gave 'em back that same night! Next thing I know, they scarin' kids too stupid to stay out of the cornfields past 7:30 as a warnin! I don't know what they're made of and I ain't paid enough to care so long as they do their job! That's it! Now, let me go, dagnabit!"

"Why do grown-ups always think we're stupid?" Numbuh 4000 scratches her head confused at Levi's comment about kids being stupid enough to stay past 7:30.

"Especially since we're more than capable of catching them in a lie?" Numbuh 3000 motions for 2k and 5k to go wake up Levi's daughters, causing him to yell wildly and indistinctly.

"Reckon he's not lyin'!" Numbuh 1000 points out knowingly, yet mockingly. "Dads instinctively freak out when their little girls discover more stuff about boys."

"How would you know?" Numbuh 3000 raises her thin eyebrow.

"Your dad freaked when he saw you and 4000 with me and 2000 playing spin the bottle, right?" Numbuh 1000 snickers. "We're done, here. Bro, call down the D.I.G.G.E.R and the rest of you be ready go under."

"Come to papa!" Numbuh 2000 clicks on an earpiece in his left ear before the aerial D.I.G.G.E.R slowly descends from the night sky and touches down on the ground right in front of the barn.

Sector L wastes no time jumping into the vehicle, which re-transforms into its previous truck-like form the instant its doors closed.

"Looking for a point of convergence between all of the scarekid posts. 'Cause that's where the underground base and the missing kids are gonna be. When I'm done, I'll put it on full-screen." Numbuh 5000's work with the computer screen causes a map-like graph to appear. It depicts all twenty-two scarekid posts having a bright-blue light going down at the bottom and connecting to one very large bright-blue square.

"Got it!" Numbuh 5000 hits a key and puts it on full-screen for everyone onboard to see.

"Let's dig!" Numbuh 2000 grabs the push-controls before the vehicle's drill starts spinning vigorously, causing a strong wind and loud whirring noise. Next, the vehicle bends and begins barrowing underground, its pilot intent on finding the base that contains the abducted children.

"We got cover, right?" Numbuh 1000 asks. "Just in case they got tracking tech?"

"Yeah. And I'm running a scan on the base to see how many exits are available. But so they don't get suspicious, I set up a link between the scanning system and a teen nerd's laptop. You know the one who stole my chemistry set last year?" Numbuh 5000 replies.

"Nerds get bullied by other nerds?" The girls scorn.

"Well, yeah! They're called "super-nerds"! A thriving species! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to eat my dinner before we get to the base!" Numbuh 5000 bends over to pick up his grey lunch-bag and takes out one of his six still-warm hamburgers with the intention of chowing down on them.

* * *

**KND**

* * *

The D.I.G.G.E.R. emerges through the floor of the underground base that Sector L has only known through deduction and seen via their computer map. The team, once again being armed and guarded, eject from the vehicle and gaze at the environment around them. It is a predominantly dim building with only white columns and a door on their far left in sight.

"Thinking what I'm thinking?" Numbuh 1000 looks to 3000.

"Too easy." Numbuh 3000 replies. "Even if we were hidden."

"Let's hope the false lead I gave them gave us the window we needed to get here undetected." Numbuh 5000 burps after eating his last hamburger. He sighs to himself, "Should've brought 12 instead of 6."

"Through that door." Numbuh 1000 points to the door on the far left. "And because we don't know who or what's down here, get ready to fight. Set the D.I.G.G.E.R. on cloak mode."

Numbuh 2000 complies with his leader's demand. Walking silently through the door, the team realizes that the lights of the corridor they are walking down are even dimmer than the ones of the previous room. It is relatively quiet. No sounds whatsoever fill the air. Not even the team's respective breaths. They don't even make a sound when they reach the next room and realize it is identical to the one they just left, only with even less light!

Numbuh 5000 finally breaks the uncomfortable silence, "We walked in a straight line, not a circle. Think this was some form of build-up for a trap?"

"You seem to think so, Mr. Madison. Or do you prefer "Hayden"?" A mysterious, raspy voice replies to Numbuh 5000; the very same voice Levi has spoken to earlier.

"Wow. A deep raspy voice with no body in sight. How awesomely original." Numbuh 1000 and his team break out their weapons and turn their backs to each other to cover all angles. "Don't suppose you'd break away from tradition by not dramatically appearing out of the shadows and telling us your name, evil plans, how we're never gonna stop you, and of course, do a lousy evil laugh after sending some incompetent army or guard to keep us from keeping you from getting away, right?"

"I'm not a force to be placed in the category of stereotypical villains, Mr. Grove." The voice replies to Numbuh 1000. Suddenly, the source of the voice steps out of the darkness in front of the team in the form of a man with a slender build, yellow eyes, and a silhouetted body; much like the infamous KND seventh age villain Father. The only difference is that this man has slick-back hair and an aura of red energy rather than fire.

"Oh, you're not, huh?" Numbuh 1000 fires one of his ten remaining arrows at the man. To his slight shock, as well as the great shock of his teammates, the man effortlessly catches the young commander's arrow and snaps off its energy-tipped arrowhead with only his thumb.

"No, sir." The man goes on. "Unlike many of the adversaries you've faced since your inception as a team, I am of the visionary variety. If your reputation precedes you as I believe it does, you will get the chance to see this vision make its way into the world of reality."

"If our reputation precedes us, we'll see what kind of messed up plan you've got?" Numbuh 3000 steps in front of her leader and asks, "What's that supposed to mean?"

The man's only reply is a snap of his fingers on his left hand, which causes the wall directly in front of them to open horizontally. While Numbuh 1000 is calm about what he sees before him, his teammates are shocked and horrified by the thing within their sights. This man has about fourteen of them unconscious in a blue, cubical, transparent substance that appears to be similar in texture to gelatin. It is them. Sector L's reason for being underground. The missing party kids from the previous night. Roland, Rico, Nina the brunette ponytailed girl, and Callie the blonde girl are in front.

"You sick freak of nature!" Numbuh 4000 cocks her rifle and prepares to set the other children free by shooting the substance.

"NO!" Numbuh 5000 narrowly stops her by forcing her rifle down. "You'll damage them more than you will their prison! Trust me! That surface is designed to keep them in, not weapons out!"

"It'd be wise for you to listen to your friend, Scarlett." The man taunts Numbuh 4000, earning both her ire and confusion due to the fact that despite not being an enemy they've faced before, this silhouetted man seems to know the team's true names.

"It'd be wise for _you_ to keep talking, Dark Knight." Calm but serious, Numbuh 1000 swiftly points three arrows at The man, confident that this time despite whatever great power he possesses, the Sector L leader will still be able to win against him. "How do we break them out of jelly jail without hurting them?"

"As understanding as it is that you have taken an oath to protect and serve children everywhere, this is one occasion where you should be concerned more about yourself." The man snaps the fingers on his other hand, causing the walls behind the team to open in the same fashion as the ones in front of them. Turning around, the operatives get an immediate sense of Déjà vu. Standing in the opening of the walls are twice as many beasts as there were before. Forty-Four monsters. Forty-Four scary, snarling, scarekids!

"Enter the incompetent army." Numbuh 2000 sighs.

"Amazing what one can do with spoiled asparagus and the common radiation you youths utilize in your arsenal." The man creates a small sliver of red energy and smugly fiddles with it as he continues, "Just as amazing as this base's ability to withstand the weight of over at least a kamillion tons of earth and soil."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Numbuh 3000 glares at The man suspicious.

"And why do I not like where this is going and why do I think it's got something to do with your baby-glowstick there?" Numbuh 1000 asks.

"As I have said, I have faith in your reputation as a whole." The man slowly increases the size of his energy sliver, "Which is why I have taken measures to ensure that you cannot obstruct my vision. To this end, I wished to make sure that a substantial amount of children appear and remain in the cornfields past curfew before allowing the scarekids to activate and ensnare them. Once that piece of the strategy was finished, you would most definitely strategize yourself once the situation became apparent and incidentally follow your oath right underground…where no one would locate you. Any of you."

His energy sliver now being a _cylinder _the size of a monster-truck tire,

_GADOWMMMMM! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!_ The man tosses the energy at the ceiling of the base, creating a massive underground quake and severely damaging the stability of the building to such a degree that it will soon implode!

"So in english, you set this base and the whole scare-and-snatch thing up months ago just to get us all in one place and bury us alive so we don't throw a toy wrench in your sicko plans, huh? And as a bonus, Levi doesn't have to worry about kids eating his crops anymore? Smart." Numbuh 1000 smirks impressed with the villain's convoluted planning.

"Wait, so, your "visionary" speech is actually…a challenge?" Numbuh 5000 asks. "Between fighting those Halloween rejects back there, saving those jellified guys, and getting outta here in one piece before this place is rubble, we won't even have time to think about getting you before you get a head start!"

"Head-start! Love those words." Having heard enough, Numbuh 1000 shoots all three arrows at The man, who is so quick that he catches two of the arrows and merely bobs his head for the third one before it explodes on the wall.

The man then exhibits uncommon strength when he throws the arrows back at Numbuh 1000, who jumps not only in the air to avoid his own projectiles, but also towards The man to engage him personally. Realizing his arrows aren't enough, the Sector L leader pulls on both ends of his bow, causing it to regress into a pole-like weapon.

"All right, Nightshade. No point in letting my arrows talk you into letting those kids go, so I'll have to try this." Numbuh 1000 points his pole at The man before it begins firing green energy blasts at the tip. Using superhuman-level skill in acrobatics, The man dodges each blast effortlessly as he simultaneously fires red energy blasts at his young foe, who in turn easily either dodges them or spins his pole around to deflect the blasts. Next, the boy pole-vaults over to the villain, who while does manage to flip over him, fails to notice that the smirking blonde boy's weapon fires energy at both ends! This results in The man not being able to generate a strong enough energy shield to protect himself from the beam that consequently sends him flying across the room. Regardless, he manages to land on his feet.

"Who is this guy?" Numbuh 1000 wonders, but coolly retains his smile.

The man starts to attack again, but the violent rumbling of the base keeps him from progressing any further. Dropping his guard, he steps into the shadowy wall behind him, "Assuming it is within your reach, another day, Mr. Grove. Another day."

"No you don't!" Numbuh 1000 points his pole at The man, but…

"Uh, 1k?" Numbuh 3000 and the others brace for the incoming collision against the army of scarekids! "We've got bigger problems!"

Numbuh 1000 turns to his friends and sees the oncoming beasts, but couldn't help but look at the bigger prize of The mysterious man, who has disappeared during the brief second the leader has looked away. Left with no other choice, he joins his team after he pushes in the ends of his pole, turning it into a bow once more.

"GNAHH!" The army menacingly approach the agents, the shockwave of such action worsening the condition of the base.

"Plan, bro?" Numbuh 2000 looks to his leader, who is glancing at the situation around him. "And I don't mean the pre-planned plan that got us here. I mean the randomly-planned mid-plan for getting us out of here!"

"He's right." Numbuh 3000 points out, "We can't beat all of them and get everyone out at the same time."

"Wanna bet?" Numbuh 1000 takes out two of his last six arrows and continues, "4k! 5k! I want you both to kick the ammo-level of your weapons to 10! My arrows are gonna amplify the intensity and splatter some of these creeps all over the place, so get down when I tell you to! 2k, 3k, and I will deal with the rest, but 4k, I need you guard 5k while he figures out a way to free my brother and the others."

"Chances are, you could increase the damage of-" Numbuh 5000 points out.

"Not gonna be any worse than what's gonna happen if I don't try." Numbuh 1000 interrupts with a smirk. "And I guess I left out the part about that being a direct order."

Without even thinking about saying another word, Numbuhs 4000 and 5000 aim their respective weapons at the approaching scarekid army, which seems to be picking up speed in their pursuit of the agents. The operatives are signaled by their leader to not fire just yet, but to be on stand-by for when he yells for them to get down.

"BOOM!" The enthusiastic Numbuh 4000 and skeptical Numbuh 5000 fire their weapons at the coming scarekids, as their leader has signaled them to do so after a three-second pause.

"GET DOWN!" Using a combination of great reflexes, accuracy, and speed, Numbuh 1000 shoots his energy-tipped arrows at the energy-projectiles fired by his friends before he ducks to cover with the rest of the team!

_GADOOOOOOOOOOM! _The union of the four energies results in a catastrophic explosion that incinerates most of the scarekids, but also worsens the condition of the already-collapsing underground base as Numbuh 5000 has feared.

"You two! Jelly Jailbreak! Now!" Numbuh 1000 looks to Numbuhs 4000 and 5000 before they comply. He looks to Numbuhs 2000 and 3000 as he springs himself back up, "You two! Get ready for asparagus field day!"

"Right!" Numbuh 3000 helps Numbuh 2000 up; both quickly arm themselves and stand on opposite sides of their leader, 2000 on the left and 3000 on the right.

The trio of children watch as the smoke covering the scarekid army clears slowly, causing them to see nothing but the creatures' silhouettes.

"GNAHH!" The smoke finally subsiding, the three are able to clearly see that the stunt that has been pulled on the scarekid army has only destroyed twenty-one of them, as twenty-three of them remain merely injured; missing arms, legs, pieces of torso, and portions of faces, but still standing.

"What, they weren't ugly enough before?" Numbuh 1000 shoots three of his remaining four arrows at the scarekid army, vaporizing three and leaving twenty standing. Aware it is his final arrow, he shoots it at a stumbling, arm-less scarekid without even looking, leaving nineteen standing.

"Like a shooting range!" Numbuh 2000 excitedly reloads his rifle with one of his two disk-packs, eager to put down his enemy by any means necessary; unlike Numbuh 4000, who prefers to use a rifle or gun for every fight. Due to the monsters being too weak to dodge or even jump with competence, he manages to consecutively destroy four more scarekids as if he _is_ actually in a shooting range, leaving only fifteen.

"I need to check my hair for gross green gunk when this over." Numbuh 3000 cocks her guns and begins shooting at the scarekids, vanquishing two and leaving thirteen.

Numbuh 1000 then takes his bow and turns it back into a pole weapon by pulling its ends before he jumps up in the air and begins shooting at random scarekids, managing to dispatch six, but then realizes that the repeated use of energy weapons is making the already-unstable underground base lose whole even quicker!

"Guys!" Numbuh 1000 lands and turns to his friends. "No more shooting! We're making things worse! Hand-to-hand only! Duke it out!"

But just as his two teammates follow his orders and put their weapons away, a very unusual phenomenon takes place before their very eyes. Noticing their expressions in addition to hearing a squishing noise behind him, Numbuh 1000 turns back around to see that the remaining seven scarekids are…merging. Somehow, they possess enough intelligence and awareness to know they are outmatched and stand a better chance together than they do apart. As arms attach to arms, legs to legs, heads to heads, the trio step back in shock (though, as usual, Numbuh 1000 remains calm and facially stoic). Before much longer…

_SHUNK! _"GNAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" The seven-foot-tall muscular scarekid bellows at its young foes, frightening Numbuhs 4000 and 5000 enough to make them turn around to see what's up. Despite its size, it moves with enough speed to sufficiently snatch Numbuh 1000's pole weapon and crush it within the palm of its hand, creating a muffled explosion.

"New order. 2000. 3000. Back-flip over by those two and help them get my brother and the others out. I'll do the duking." Knowing how severe the situation has gotten, Numbuh 1000 swallows his twizzlin, slowly takes off his black leather jacket, and cracks his knuckles simply by clinching his fists. He looks behind him to see Numbuh 3000 staring at him with slight concern.

"He said that was an order, 3k. Besides, you know what happens when he takes off his jacket. It's always the bad guy we end up feeling bad for. But not for long." Numbuh 2000 leads her away from their leader and towards the others.

Numbuh 1000 turns his attention back to the giant scarekid, which bellows yet again, but causes no part of the boy's body to move except for his golden blonde hair. Displaying sharpened martial arts skills and strength, speed, agility reflexes, and a durability-level twice as great as any of his friends, the Sector L leader is fighting and holding an advantage against the beast.

Numbuh 1000 blocks the creature's oncoming blow and delivers a straight punch to its face, staggering it. Vulnerable, the scarekid subsequently tilts backwards, losing its ground and balance due to Numbuh 1000 repeatedly punching it in its "chest"; the boy gaining mushy, moist asparagus on his fists as a result. Taking advantage of the monster's poor footing, the leading operative slides under its legs, springs himself back up, and stamp kicks his adversary in the back of the "knee", forcing it to kneel. The behemoth of a scarekid refuses to relent, as it regains its footing and charges at Numbuh 1000, landing two punches before its third one is caught. Then, the Sector leader's asparagus-covered fists increase in covering when he swiftly delivers another three punches. The giant falls to the floor again when Numbuh 1000 leg-sweeps it, creating a small shockwave that is enough to make a piece of the collapsing, unstable roof fall.

"Hard fall, big guy." Numbuh 1000 shakes the asparagus off of his hands and stops the angered giant's barrage of punches and kicks with punches and kicks of his own, slowly replenishing the supply of vegetable guts on his young but powerful fists. Tired of this, in a great display of speed and power, he dodges another one of the fiend's punches as he simultaneously punches it in the face; repeating the process six more times on the latter's "chest", "abdomen", and facial areas respectively.

"Arrgh!" Meanwhile, Numbuh 5000 is having a difficult time figuring out a way to free the trapped children from their gelatinous prison without harming them or causing the collapsing base to give in even sooner. The suggestions that are being offered to him by his teammates aren't making things any better either.

"I could always treat them at the treehouse afterwards, Numbuh 5000." Numbuh 4000 explains. "The damage on them wouldn't be too bad if we use the guns. And I can take their minds off of the trauma by giving them Gemstone Bunnies and candy! Works every time!"

"Too many people in the cell." Numbuh 5000 rebuffs, pinching the ridge of his nose in frustration. "You're bound to hit at least one vital body part."

"How about we shoot _around _the cell?" Numbuh 3000 suggests. "It should come right out. I mean, it can't stay in the wall if there's no wall to stay in, right?"

"Wrong!" Numbuh 5000 corrects, "This whole base is in a critical shape. A single shot in the tiniest crack of wall will bring this place down and bury this cell…and us."

"Too bad it's not real jelly. Our weapons would just melt it off." Numbuh 2000 jokes, gaining a frown from both of his female teammates.

"Either you think of something useful or shut-" Numbuh 5000 doesn't finish his sentence. Quite the contrary to what he was about to say, he has found some usefulness in the transportation expert's joke. "2k, that's probably the smartest thing you've ever said without being hyped."

"What idea?" Numbuh 3000 asks curious.

"Like I said before, this gelatinous substance is designed to keep people in, not out." Numbuh 5000 starts. "That means its structure is way thinner and weaker on the outside than it is on the inside."

Numbuh 5000 takes out a pair of gloves and removes the disk-shaped ammunition from his all-metal pistol, "Our ammo is still hot. If we use our combined super-strength and speed to rub the surface of this cell with our ammo, it'll melt quicker than unlicked ice cream."

Numbuh 3000 starts to question her teammate, but upon realizing that the ceiling is starting to become an opening for thousands of pounds of dirt and rock, she doesn't hesitate to slip on a pair of gloves herself and nod for the other two to do so as well. Numbuh 2000, 3000, and 4000 subsequently remove the ammo from their respective weapons and join Numbuh 5000 in using the stuff to rub the gelatinous prison with great speed and strength. Before too long, the blue incarceration cube begins to fade in a melting fashion.

"It's working!" Numbuh 2000 excitedly yells.

"You say that like you're surprised." Numbuh 5000 chuckles.

As the cube's stability becomes increasingly thin, one-by-one, each of the fourteen children imprisoned within falls out onto the floor and awakens from their unconscious state. With the last spec of blue no longer in sight, Numbuh 3000 yells out, "They're free, Numbuh 1000!"

"Good!" Numbuh 1000 front kicks the beast down and as he witnesses a large rock fall from the ceiling and nearly crush him from behind, "Now cram 'em all in the D.I.G.G.E.R and get outta here! I'll be out as soon as I'm done making the last of my veggies stay down! And don't think for a sec that that's not an order!"

"Quick! Grab a few and let's go!" Numbuh 3000's order reaches all of her teammates, leading Numbuh 5000 to grab four kids; Numbuh 4000 to grab five kids; Numbuh 2000 to grab Roland, Rico, and a barely conscious girl; and Numbuh 3000 herself to grab Nina and Callie.

Noticing the escape of the eighteen children, the gargantuan scarekid starts to lunge after them…

"No, you don't!" Numbuh 1000 stops the creature's assault with a karate-chop to the neck and an elbow strike to the face, allowing the group to leave.

"GNAAAAAAAAAH!" The massive monster runs up behind Numbuh 1000 just as the boy back-fists it, karate-kicks it in the stomach, and delivers a hammer-fist right to the back of its head.

* * *

Through the even dimmer hall and room that they passed earlier on, the agents and their victimized civilian counterparts see the open-ground where they left the cloaked D.I.G.G.E.R.

"DEACTIVATE CLOAKING SYSTEM!" Numbuh 2000's cry causes the D.I.G.G.E.R to become visible once more.

The hatch of the vehicle opening, the operatives take their leader's order to cram everyone in literally, stuffing them all behind 1000's chair, much to their complaints!

"Look I'm sorry, okay?" Numbuh 3000 tries to reason with the liberated children and sits in 1000's chair. "But we need space to operate and get out of here. 2000, can you do that please? 4000, place the strength of the drill and all weapons systems on full blast. We can't afford to let any dirt-pressure slow us down. And 5000, make sure we're clear to enter the surface so that Levi doesn't intercept us. By now he's gotten free and is looking for us. 5000?"

Numbuh 3000 turns around to see Numbuh 5000 kissing a girl on the cheek before he takes chips and taffy out of a barely-conscious boy's sweater pocket. Annoyed, Numbuh 3000 grabs him by the ear and throws him in his chair next to 2000, whom is hesitant about leaving without his best friend.

"I know what you're thinking, Numbuh 2000." Numbuh 3000 sits back in the leader's chair. "This is almost no different from every other time. You gotta have faith in him. Now, let's go!"

* * *

Back in the other room, Numbuh 1000 delivers a roundhouse kick to the back of the humongous scarekid's head, causing it to stumble and fall on its hands and knees to the floor. Before it could get back up, the child performs an axe-kick to the back of the downed beast's head. Suddenly…

_RUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! _The base begins to enter the final stages of its tolerance towards the weight of the surrounding dirt and rock, which literally starts to pour through the building's walls like a chain of waterfalls.

"Better end it." Numbuh 1000, distracted by the occurrences around him, fails to see the scarekid rush at him and ends up taking three punches to the face, leaving him with a few scratches. However, he regains his focus immediately afterwards, catches the monster's incoming kick, and uses his strength and speed to repeatedly elbow strike it in the same spot, weakening and eventually fracturing its leg!

Eager to end the brawl, Numbuh 1000 attacks at full strength, using a speed that the creature could not overcome even without a broken leg. _Jab! Cross! Hook! Bob! Weave! Weave! Weave! Bob! Bob! Overhand right! Hook! Hook! Cross! Hook! Flying punch! Slip! Weave! Bob! Bob! Parry! Block! Clinch! Cross! Cross! Cross! Hook! LEFT UPPERCUT! _

The creature is left neutralized from the last attack and Numbuh 1000, noticing that the weakened giant is splitting back into seven scarekids, swiftly grabs his sword-handle from his jacket, causes its green energy blade to extend, and despite having a brief back-and-forth flashback to **when he last used a blade to do something he was forced to**, decapitates the scarekid, ending its threat.

"Mmm." Unsettled but uncaring at the moment, Numbuh 1000 grabs his jacket and puts it on as he runs his fastest out of the room to avoid getting buried by the oncoming wave of dirt and rock. His sword still extended and the base's ceiling and walls collapsing all around him, he uses advanced acrobatics to hop from descending big rock to big rock while also slicing and dicing the much bigger kind. As he ducks and rolls once he hits the ground, he sees the that the D.I.G.G.E.R has just now left and the ceiling's rocks have just covered the hole it exited through!

"I can cope." Undaunted by the fact that he is now trapped in a collapsing building, he swings his sword around vigorously before jumping up in the air and continuing the feat. Rather than getting crushed by the debris, his swift swinging of his sword has resulted in everything above him incinerating! Next, Numbuh 1000 dives towards the covered hole the D.I.G.G.E.R has gone through and manages to successfully _penetrate_ it, landing in the tunnel left behind by the vehicle just before the rest of the base completely and utterly collapsed!

"Huh! Huh! Huh!" As his life depends on it, Numbuh 1000 runs his fastest down the tunnel in an attempt to catch up the D.I.G.G.E.R, spinning his blade around once again to incinerate the bits and pieces of rock tumbling his way. He runs. And runs. And runs.

"There!" Numbuh 1000 spots the back end of the D.I.G.G.E.R quite some distance above him, though is not discouraged in the least. Rather than panicking, he builds up every last muscle in his legs, ignoring the dirt and rocks falling on him, and….

_SHOOOOOOOM! _Jumps towards the still-moving D.I.G.G.E.R, successfully closing quite a bit of distance between them! However, it isn't enough to enable the leader to catch up with his team. Consequently, he is forced to jump from wall-to-wall that is left behind by the excavating vehicle! Then, Numbuh 1000 decides that since this stunt isn't getting him anywhere either, he should jam his blade into the tunnel-wall. Holding onto the handle of his sword, he swings backwards four time before…

_SPROING! _Taking his sword with him, he flies upwards and is once again closing the gap between himself and the D.I.G.G.E.R, but is also once again seemingly slowing down.

"C'mon! Almost there!" All that could be heard now is a steady heartbeat gradually picking up speed as the sector L commander drifts closer to the D.I.G.G.E.R while slowly losing speed. _BUUMBUMP! BUUMBUMP! BUUMBUMP! BUUMBUMP! BUUMBUMP! _He gets closer. And closer. And closer. Ultimately…

_SHISH! _Thinking fast, Numbuh 1000 successfully jams his blade directly underneath the D.I.G.G.E.R, slicing through Numbuh 3000's real seat and shattering her mirror! She gasps in horror but then sighs in relief knowingly, "He made it."

"CANDY CORNFIELDS JUST SIX MILES AWAY!" Numbuh 2000 yells as he drives his vehicle even further to the surface. A few moments later, he reconfirms…

"FOUR MILES!" A few more moments later, he once again reconfirms…

"TWO MILES!" Seeing a small glimpse of the stars in the night sky, Numbuh 2000 reconfirms a few moments later for the last time…

"CORNFIELDS REACHED!"

"And no sign of any life above, so we're in the clear!" Numbuh 5000 views the full-screen map as he eats his "borrowed" potato chips.

_SHROOM! BONG! _The D.I.G.G.E.R has successfully reached the candy cornfields on the surface! After freeing the other kids inside and instructing them to wait while they call forth a bigger vehicle to carry them all in, Sector L search around for their leader, who rolls out from underneath the D.I.G.G.E.R and stands before his team with a smile that implies that everything they've been through tonight was a….

"Piece of cake." Numbuh 1000 snickers. He and his team subsequently take a bow when the other kids around them cheer them on in gratitude for saving them. At least until…

"Hey, runt! Those are my chips you stole!" The sweater kid that Numbuh 5000 has stolen from chases the taller kid through the cornfields in anger!

"Borrowed, dude! Borrowed!" Numbuh 5000 tries to reason, but is relentlessly pursued in spite of this!

* * *

The following morning, a shirtless Numbuh 1000 is working out in the training simulator, fighting off what appears to be a couple of tapioca monsters with nothing more than a new bow-and-arrow set and his martial arts skills. On his back, one can see a thick but small (no longer than six inch) scar that looks like it has been there for some time now.

"YAH!" Numbuh 1000 performs a back-flip that causes the two tapioca monsters to crash into each other, becoming forcibly merged as a result. In mid-air, he takes the opportunity to swiftly shoot seven arrows into the two before they disintegrate in the blast, ending the simulation.

"Mmm." Numbuh 1000 lands on his feet and continues to look down in thought. Who was that silhouetted man with the energy powers and how did he know the true names of himself and his team? What is this "vision" he has and why was it so important that he got rid of Sector L, even though he failed? Or did he? Numbuh 5000 has deduced the possibility of last night's mission being a test. The real trouble might not be starting until later.

"Wow, look at you. Working up an appetite?" Numbuh 3000, holding a towel for her leader, and Numbuh 2000, drinking a bottle of blue raspberry soda, appear at the doorway to check up on Numbuh 1000.

"And thinking about last night's royal rubble rumble." Numbuh 1000 chuckles as he grabs his shirt and jacket, throwing them both over his shoulder.

"You _should_ be thinking about replacing my mirror." Numbuh 3000 wipes her leader's face clean of sweat. "You know I like to admire the goddess-level perfection of my being before and after a mission."

"Drinking in the morning again, bro?" Numbuh 1000 inserts a twizzlin in his mouth. "Looking to hit a fire hydrant while a dog's doing his business?"

"We got a test today, man. And I need the sugar!" Numbuh 2000 guzzles down the last of his soda, fidgeting slightly afterwards.

"Then instead of soda, why not get some breakfast? Like a giant hot fudge sundae with candy corn and peanut butter cups?" Numbuh 3000 then looks down in thought after that suggestion before she greedily smirks and dashes down the hall, "Assuming I don't eat it all first!"

"Oh, no! No! No! No! Don't even play like that, girl!" Numbuh 2000, though not hyped, flails around in the air and nearly falls over himself in an attempt to catch up with and stop 3000 from eating all of the ice cream!

"Hey! Hey! Hey! You eat it all, I'm taking whatever's left in your freezer! And I don't mean that badly-hidden safe of ice cream behind your bed either!" The smirking Numbuh 1000 takes off after his friends down the hall.

* * *

**KND**

* * *

Elsewhere, in a three-story home on seventeen acres of land, a couple of teenagers, about sixteen each, in black suits and sunglasses approach a man sitting in a recliner chair facing away from them. The one on the left has brown hair while the other has black hair.

"Tracking data confirmed, sir." The brown-haired teen speaks up. "Sector L of the Kids Next Door has managed to rescue all of the prisoners previously held in our possession and escape the base before its destruction."

"Should I-" The black-haired teen starts.

"No. That was merely a pre-test. One they passed with flying colors I might add. Now, we must give them repeated opportunities to use their skills and experiences to survive more severe trials and examinations. After all. We can't have them blinding…the vision." He turns around to face the boys, effectively revealing himself to be none other than...him. The silhouetted man.

**end transmission**

* * *

"**Scarlett Benjamin", the true name of Numbuh 4000, is named for "Scarlett Walker", a girl who received $4000 in college scholarships after winning a competition. **

"**Hayden Madison", the true name of Numbuh 5000, is named for "President James Madison", whose face is on the $5000 Bill.**

**See! Huh? Didn't I tell you that there'd be action in this second half? And it only gets better everyone! Especially with the introduction of The silhouetted man (who will be named later on) and his "vision"! If you have a pretty good idea of what he might be called, PLEASE keep it to yourself or send me a pm, but not before telling me what you think about him so far in the reviews! Oh and here's another treat! If it's not up now, in an hour or so, check out my profile if you want to know what the next episode is gonna be about! Till that time, Dragon Out! **


End file.
